Saturday, May 17th, 2008

Dirtbags can’t bury Bruins

The UCLA baseball team pulled an upset Tuesday night, winning at Long Beach State 6-3.

The Bruins entered the game on a three-game losing streak, but snapped it, improving their record to 6-9 and beating a ranked team in the No. 15 Dirtbags (9-5).

UCLA had not won a game at Long Beach’s Blair Field since 1995.

The UCLA offense had been in a slump heading into Tuesday, having only scored 11 runs in its previous five games. It didn’t take long for the Bruins to break out of that slump, however, as freshman Cody Decker hit a two-run homer in the top of the first inning.

It was Decker’s second career home run in only his eighth at-bat this season.

In the second inning, UCLA freshman catcher Ryan Babineau added a sacrifice fly to give the Bruins a 3-0 lead before they exploded with a big fifth inning.

Shortstop Brandon Crawford and right fielder Chris Jensen both hit back-to-back RBI doubles, which were followed later in the inning with an RBI single by third baseman Jermaine Curtis.

The Bruins’ strength so far this season has been their pitching, and that continued Tuesday night. Brian Schroeder had a quality start, throwing seven innings and allowing only three runs on four hits. Schroeder started the game by retiring the first nine batters he faced before allowing two runs in the fourth inning.

Later, Schroeder allowed a run in the fifth inning but didn’t allow a hit after that in scoreless sixth and seventh innings.

Schroeder has worked as a starter and reliever so far this season, starting all three Tuesday games and pitching in relief on the weekends. He has pitched effectively in all of his starts, not giving up more than three runs in either one.

Jason Novak and Paul Oseguera combined to pitch a scoreless eighth for the Bruins.

Oseguera recorderd a rarity, getting credit for two-thirds of an inning despite facing only one batter. He came into the game with one out and runner on first and induced Dirtbag Tito Cruz to ground into a double play.

In the ninth, UCLA coach John Savage opted to use team ace Hector Ambriz instead of normal closer Brant Rustich, who suffered a blister in the Bruins’ game this past Sunday.

Ambriz earned the save by getting all three batters he faced out, two of them on strikeouts, to end the game.

Next on the schedule for the Bruins is a three-game series at North Carolina State from Friday to Sunday. The Wolfpack are 13-1 and ranked No. 17 in the nation. Tuesday, North Carolina State beat High Point 12-3 to extend its winning streak to seven games.

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